by Donald Trump spoke at a town hall in Georgia on Tuesday to address women’s issues – it turned out that Fox News only had hand-picked GOP supporters in the “town”.
The day after the former president tackled his curated playlist when two of his supporters fell ill at a rally in Oaks, Pennsylvania, and just hours after he delivered a free association performance at the Economic Club of Chicago, reached it’s the Reid Barn in Cumming, Georgia.
Located in Forsyth County, about 45 minutes outside of Atlanta, these are the areas where Trump needs to hit his stride on election day if he is to win. Of course, the town hall held by Fox News was meant to soften its image with female voters. If Trump has any hope of sweeping the state, he will need to improve his image with women.
As soon as Trump entered the rustic wood-paneled barn, he received a standing ovation. Throughout the town hall hosted by Harris Faulkner, the questioners seemed to be captivated.
“I think when he came out, everybody was really impressed to see him and his enthusiasm,” said Emily Harris TheIndependent. “It was great to be in the room with him.”
And for good reason, since many of the attendees in the intimate setting were from Republican groups across the district that Fox News invited.
At least that’s what some of the women said The Independent. Harris, for example, is the vice president of the Forsyth Republican Women.
“We received a personal invitation from Fox News,” she said. “We were excited. We were all very pleasant.”
It was the same situation with Cynthia Brown of Cumming, who was the treasurer of Republican Women of Forsyth County.
“We love Donald Trump and President Trump, and what he’s done in America, and what he’s done for women,” she said The Independent.
Trump’s troubles with female voters are well documented. According to Michael Cohen, his former attorney, when the Trump camp learned that Stormy Daniels was going to talk about their alleged connection, the former president was afraid that it would derail his then-promising political career. “Women hate me. This is truly a disaster. Women hate me,” Cohen recalled of Trump’s response.
At another rally in late 2020, Trump famously said at a rally in Iowa “Suburban women, please like me.”
“I don’t know where that comes from,” Brown said. “Because everybody I talk to loves and respects what he’s doing, because he’s protecting our children, protecting women from sex trafficking, human trafficking and all the things that allow give you open borders.”
Trump’s woes only got worse when the Supreme Court, which included three justices he had nominated, turned down Rua v Wade two years ago. Since then, Trump has tried to thread the needle by not explicitly saying he would support a national ban on abortion and instead returning it to the states.
At the town hall, which is to be broadcast on Wednesday morning, Trump still did not have an adequate answer to the question of abortion. Pamela, a resident of Cumming, asked Trump “why is the government involved in the basic rights of women?” In response, Trump offered the same stoic response he gave about how “all the legal scholars, the great ones,” across party lines wanted abortion returned to the states.
Kelly Murphy, who is also involved with the Republican Women of Forsyth County, said she was confident that Trump would win in Georgia this time.
“He has a great fan base here, and a lot of people don’t want to say it, they’re afraid, but when the voting window closes, they’re going to vote for Trump,” she said. The Independent.
“I think he did the right thing by sending him back to the states,” said Murphy’s daughter, Ashley.
Harris said she appreciated Trump clarifying his comments about how Democrats have said Trump wants to ban abortion.
“And I say that because they’re only focusing on the abortion issue,” she said. “And instead of banning abortion, which he doesn’t want to do. He wants it to be for the states and let the states decide.”
At the same time, Harris said she was pro-life because her mother was born after 27 weeks, when her grandmother had the option of having an abortion.
“If it wasn’t for my mom’s survival, I wouldn’t be here, my sister wouldn’t be here, my three girls wouldn’t be here, and my nephew wouldn’t be here,” she said. “So I believe it’s trying to educate some people who get the chance, or make their doctors aware of the choices they have to make that could be life changing for them and the baby in the womb.”
